Tags:

Text Size

-

+

reset

St. Lucie County Commissioner Chris Craft (D) dropped out of his race against Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) Friday, greatly increasing the odds that the freshman congressman will be re-elected to a second term.

“Over the past two years, St. Lucie County — like all other counties in Florida and across the country — has dramatically suffered from the effects of the recession,” Craft said in a statement. “We are now faced with an enormous budget shortfall and a situation that requires the undivided attention from each of our county’s elected officials.”

Hyped by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as a strong recruit early in the campaign, Craft was in Washington for a DCCC event as recently as early March teaching candidates how to talk tough on national security issues. But he struggled to raise money and faced criticism from Republicans over his past support for tax hikes.

Craft’s departure serves as another sign that Democrats will be almost exclusively focused on playing defense for the 2010 midterms. Other top Democratic recruits to abandon races include businessman Jack MacDonald, who abruptly withdrew his campaign against Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) last December, and Dave Roberts, the best-funded challenger against Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.), who also opted not to run.

With Craft out of the race, there aren’t any Democrats slated to run against Rooney. The Democratic Party has until April 30 – the state’s filing deadline – to find a replacement candidate.

Rooney’s Florida district leans Republican: It gave John McCain 52 percent of the vote in 2008. Rooney defeated scandal-plagued former Democratic. Rep Tim Mahoney with 60 percent of the vote that year.